The Lemondeses named their farm Elly’s Acres in honor of their eldest daughter, who was born severely disabled. (Elly Lemondes died in 2016 at age 16.) John, Martha, their 13-year-old daughter Olivia, and nine-year old son J. J. put in long hours returning the land to health.

In just a few years of farming, Lemondes has rehabilitated the land and implemented sustainable management practices; he’s established a thriving flock of sheep from which he derives both wool and meat; and, in addition to building his farm from the ground up, he has become an advocate for veterans interested in getting into business of agriculture.

Though the farm is Lemondes’ first, he is not new to agriculture. In his youth, he picked strawberries, worked with livestock, and made hay, and he earned a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Penn State University. After almost three decades in the Army, where he rose to the rank of colonel, Lemondes was ready to take the discipline, organization, and team-management skills he’d developed and put them to work on a farm.

“I never knew how long my military career would be,” Lemondes says, adding that he views it as a detour from the pursuit of his “lifelong desire to farm.”

Since the Lemondeses took over the land, they’ve worked to alleviate flooding in the barn and barnyard, demolished an unlivable house, renovated the farmhouse, and replaced miles of hazardous fencing. At the same time, they’ve reclaimed land that had reverted from pasture to scrub and planted pasture forage—grasses and other food for grazers—for the first time in decades. Having revived it, the Lemondeses see their land, with its mixture of fertile pastures and woodland acreage, as perfectly suited for the Rambouillet sheep they raise for their extra-soft wool as well as meat, with the goal of taking part in the emerging and lucrative field of dual-purpose ranching.

Over the years, his initial flock of 20 sheep has grown to over 100 animals in a closed flock, all bred on the farm and carefully selected for their genetics. Lemondes rotationally grazes the animals, allowing the land to grow back healthier than it would with intensive grazing, and the flock is never fed grain or given antibiotics. Moveable electric fencing, combined with livestock-guarding dogs, corral the flock to protect it from predators and thieves.

Lemondes says knows he’s doing the right thing for the land, in part because his pasture has so few parasites compared to most, and his sheep haven’t needed worming in several years. His grazing rotation is designed to balance the land’s carrying capacity with the density and frequency of grazing, keeping the manure from building up and creating nutrient runoff into the watershed. He also makes sure to distribute the animal’s manure carefully on the land to reduce watershed exposure risk. “If you are going to farm anything, you can’t farm what your land won’t support,” he said.

John Lemondes leading a farm tour for a group of farmer veterans. (Photo © James Bemus.)

It will take him several more years of breeding to reach the 500-head flock he knows his land can support. But Lemondes has already begun applying the lessons he’s learned—about grazing, of course, but also about making the most of financial support for farmers and veterans—to become an advocate for other veterans and sheep farmers in New York and nationwide.

“John was a leader in the military, and now he is a leader in the effort to help other veterans become farmers,” says Michael O’Gorman, executive director of the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC).

A Lifetime of Gathering Wool

Although Lemondes’ 100-sheep flock is already larger than many other New York sheep farms, he hopes his expansion plans will help Elly’s Acres get out of a tricky middle place. Each of their sheep generates seven to 10 pounds of wool when sheared.

“We’re already a large farm, but not enough to be a big player” in the commodity fiber industry, he says. “We sell wool directly to individuals, to the local wool pool, and whole fleeces at the CNY Fiber Festival. We don’t sell wool to a commercial processor directly, but we do so through the wool pool. Wool, in low volume, is a challenge.”

According to Susan Schoenian, a sheep and goat specialist at the University of Maryland Extension, the average sheep farm in the United States has fewer than 30 sheep. “[They] have little to no impact on the commodity wool market,” Schoenian says. “Large producers are more likely to sell wool to a mill or warehouse, though some wool pools sell wool through warehouses. In commodity markets, Rambouillet and Merino sheep reign.”

Though this is his first time raising sheep, Lemondes has experience in the wool industry from his time in the military. Part of his job in Army acquisitions was to expand its use of domestic wool, which the military uses in everything from dress blues to berets, as is required by the Berry Amendment.

He became an early supporter of wool after seeing a newer process, known as superwashing, in action. By rounding off the fiber through a specialized washing process, superwashing makes wool fibers less itchy, and less likely to shrink or mat together. Lemondes sought—unsuccessfully—to have the military invest in superwashing equipment in partnership with the American Sheep Industry; today Chargeur’s Wool in South Carolina owns the only superwashing equipment in the U.S.

“Wool is an amazing fiber,” Lemondes says, listing many of its benefits: waterproofing, odor-reducing, flame resistance, biodegradation, and anti-microbial properties along with its durability, colorfastness, and comfort.

While Lemondes continues to expand his wool sales, he is also getting into the meat market. Currently, the farm sells its meat primarily via word of mouth to local markets—Greek, Iraqi, and Moroccan cuisine are among the many that prominently feature lamb. And although the potential for domestically produced lamb is relatively untapped, Lemondes is betting that will soon change. “People who have bought our product love it,” he says.

Having only recently acquired reliable internet access—an ongoing problem in rural communities—the Lemondeses are only just beginning to find their way to social media and new customers as they build their flock and develop their markets. But they’re betting on demand picking up as people recognize the benefits of wool and lamb.

Nothing Sheepish About Asking for Help

While the Lemondes are building their flock, they are also working off-farm, like more than half of the farmers in the U.S.

John works in the defense industry and handles the farm’s general labor and strategic planning. Martha has a job in human resources and organizes farm deliveries and events and focuses on the business development. The couple hires out most of the shearing, but family members—including the children—do everything else. Olivia specializes in lambing and health care, while J.J. handles barn cleaning and helps with firewood and other chores.

“You’d be foolish to not have off-farm jobs when starting out,” Lemondes says. “We’re not going to allow ourselves to go bankrupt in order to farm.” Because they own their land, the Lemondeses are in a better position than many; investing in and improving land is even riskier when you lease.

While Lemondes did have savings, unlike many beginning farmers, he is concerned that sometimes well-meaning programs such as those encouraging veterans to enter farming might be “pushing people into something where the deck is stacked against them, whether they realize it or not.”

John Lemondes leading a discussion among farmer veterans. (Photo © James Bemus.)

Many veteran farm programs offer a path to self-sufficiency that many veterans embrace, having given their prime years to the military. The Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) was born in 2007 out of a gathering of California farmers organized by O’Gorman with a goal of finding and creating farm jobs for those returning from active duty. Today, FVC offers training and support, with chapters across the nation; Lemondes is the president of the New York chapter, has hosted a tour of his farm for other FVC members, and convened a state-wide conference for farmer veterans through Cornell’s Small Farm Program.

“Beyond Col. Lemondes’s leadership of FVC’s New York Chapter, he serves as a role model of successful entrepreneurship in agriculture,” says Dean Koyanagi, a farmer veteran program associate at the Cornell Small Farms Program. “Aspiring farmer veterans can learn from his story of transferring military service skills to tangible attributes necessary to meet the challenges of farm ownership.”

Since 2007, the number of veteran-focused programs has grown significantly. The USDA now offers training programs; the National Center for Appropriate Technology’s Armed to Farm program and AgrAbility also offer programs and resources. Lemondes has taken advantage of some resources, including Cornell University’s Farm Ops program, and has found the education to be invaluable.

“[The Farm Ops program] gives you direct exposure to professionals who are experienced and knowledgeable,” he says. “I learned a ton.”

But knowing what to do and how to do it, and even where to turn for help, hasn’t made the journey painless. For instance, Lemondes hasn’t found it easy to work with the local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office, and see problems with the structure of programs like NRCS. According to Lemondes, the long-term contracts required under many conservation programs can rule out funding options for those who might have to sell the farm prior to the contract ending, requiring farmers—who are already going under—to pay back the funding immediately. And strict program regulations specify the use of protocols that might not work on all farms. He’d like to see more flexibility in these programs that would meet the individual needs of more farmers.

He’s also had difficulty accessing conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) or the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). (He says he’s still waiting for a check for an EQIP project he completed in March 2017). And the income threshold needed to be competitive for some government grant programs is rough for small and beginning farmers.

Lemondes has become a farmer-activist. Over the past four years, he has written about his experiences as a beginning farmer, and testified in front of the House Committee on Agriculture about the shortfalls and potential benefits of Veteran Farmer programs.

“Dealing with the government has been exceptionally difficult,” Lemondes says. “I want to be part of the process that turns it around.”

John Lemondes shearing one of his Rambouillet sheep. (Photo © James Bemus.)

The post This Veteran Learned the Value of American Wool in the Army. Now He’s Raising His Own Sheep. appeared first on Civil Eats.

In addition to operating a feed mill, Mary-Howell, her husband Klaas, and their son Peter farm 1,600 certified organic acres of grains and vegetables in the Finger Lakes region of New York on land they both rent and own. If anyone’s predictions on the demise of conventional farming—using chemicals to control pests, diseases, and weeds—should be taken seriously, it is that of the Martens’.

Klaas, who is a third-generation farmer, and Mary-Howell started out decades ago as conventional farmers. In their early years, they relied heavily on external inputs like herbicides and synthetic fertilizers and routinely plowed soil left bare outside of the growing season.

Then, following a pesticide-related health scare more than 20 years ago, the Martens switched “cold turkey” from conventional farming. Today, they are highly successful certified organic farmers and well-respected leaders who never tire of sharing their expertise with anyone who asks, including those who doubt that organic farming can feed the world.

Frederick white wheat fields at the Martens’s Farm

The couple’s influence stretches far: Klaas was featured as this year’s OGRAIN keynote speaker, and the two jointly gave the keynote presentation at the Canadian Organic Farmers Eco Farm Days 2018. They have contributed numerous articles to sustainable farming publications, were featured in several documentary films, won the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Patrick Madden Award in 2008, and have served on various government or non-profit boards associated with sustainable farming.

The couple are keenly aware that certified organic practices are often misunderstood. Many conventional farmers don’t understand how eliminating synthetic chemicals can produce healthier crops without sacrificing yields or profits, they say. Others simply want to substitute permitted certified organic sprays into their existing system in an attempt to reap the higher pricing associated with organics—but they do not make any other fundamental changes, such as using cultivation practices as a first defense against pest and disease concerns.

The Martens are also concerned about what they see as industrial-style organic farms skirting around the USDA National Organic Program’s standards, and in their view, seemingly operating outside the fundamental tenets that have guided the organic farming community since its inception.

“Often, organic farmers are defined by the ‘shalt nots’: no pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms [GMOs], growth hormones, sewage sludge,” Mary-Howell says, referring to practices that are prohibited by USDA Organic regulations. “But in reality, it is the ‘shalts’ that make organic farming possible. The secret for success in organic agriculture is the substitution of a more skilled level of management and observation, rather than the substitution of alternative organically-approved materials.”

“Organic farming at its best uses management inputs in the place of outside inputs,” Klaas explains. As an added benefit, “our costs per unit of production are lower today than when we farmed conventionally.”

Yellow mustard fields are an important part of the rotational cropping system on the Martens’s farm.

Cultivating Biodiversity, Patchwork-Style

When asked for a concise description that could convey the reality of organic farming, Mary-Howell has a ready reply: “intentional biodiversity.”

“A farm that practices intentional biodiversity develops multi-year, whole-farm crop rotations, including a variety of row crops, small grains, forages, and cover crops to deliberately nurture a healthy, diverse soil microbial population, break weed and pest cycles, build soil organic matters and enhance nutrient cycling, and prevent erosion and soil degradation,” she explains.

The Martens’s farm may feature amber waves of grain, but not with uninterrupted acres of a mono-crop often seen on a conventional commodity grain farm. Instead, it’s a patchwork. A field of spelt awaiting harvest may bump up against a field of soybeans ready to flower. As the Martens harvest one crop, they quickly plant another in the same location. Two crops, such as a clover cover crop planted between rows of a grain crop often share the same acreage.

“The total acreage appears to be much higher than our land base because over half of our land is double-cropped each year,” Klaas explains.

The key to this abundance is paying attention to the interaction between the crops and the role each crop plays in the farm system. As an example, Klaas highlights ancient grains—spelt, Einkorn wheat, and emmer wheat—now included in the farm’s rotations.

“Every new, well-adapted species we introduce to our system makes it stronger and more resilient,” he says. “Ancient grains have traits that make them more stress tolerant than our more highly specialized crops.” As a result, the system tolerates drought, increasing temperatures, and other less-than-ideal growing conditions much better.

Animals, too, play an integral role. The Martens raise 70 or so heifers and dry cows for nearby dairy farmers. They feed them primarily on the cover crops, crop residue, and crop by-products—clover, barley or oat residue, and corn stalks. In exchange, the animals provide manure as a natural source for soil fertility.

“The goal is to feed the animals without reducing our production of other food crops,” Klaas explains.

Because of their expertise, the Martens work regularly with Cornell University researchers on trials related to soil health and nutrition, small grains breeding, weed science, and seed propagation. They also work with the Rodale Institute, perfecting no-till best practices, including crimping and rolling rye to terminate cover crops, then planting a soybean crop into the residue.

“The overall principle that has tied all of the research together is that every agronomic problem we encounter in farming can be relieved or often eliminated by introducing the right new species into our system at the right point,” Klaas says. “Every pest, pathogen, or problem that we encounter is rooted in a chemical or biological imbalance in our farming system and is a symptom of that imbalance.”

Jeff Moyer, the executive director at the Rodale Institute, first met the Martens in the 1990s when they visited the Institute to learn. “Klaas was eager to learn everything he could about organic production, especially weed management. Learning soon morphed into teaching as both Klaas and Mary-Howell excelled in their transition  an intensive conventional approach to a dynamic organic approach,” Moyer says. “Student and teacher both at the same time, that’s Klaas.”

Building Community with an Organic Grain Mill

In addition to their focus on biodiversity, the Martens have also worked to develop economic diversity on their farm and in their community. Two decades ago, they bought a defunct mill and brought it back to life as the Lakeview Organic Grain mill, which enabled them to find multiple markets for their crops—for example, their corn and rye are used for distilling, feed, and seed; their soybeans for seed, feed, and food; and their wheat for feed, seed, and straw.

The mill also revitalized the organic farming sector in the area. “The Martens have had a positive and lasting impact on the Finger Lakes Region,” says Moyer. “By creating marketing opportunities for their own farm they’ve created opportunities for the entire region. They truly are a model for how one farm can grow an organic community.”

Chef Dan Barber, who is a longtime customer of the Martens, credits the farm with widespread impacts, chronicled in his 2014 book The Third Plate. He calls the mill “one of the most vital contributions to the town’s economy,” creating jobs and incentivizing regional farmers to grow grains like triticale, oats, and barley, which improve the health of the region’s soil.

“In just two decades,” Barber writes, “Klaas and Mary-Howell have gone from harvesting a few organic grains to complex rotations that include heirloom wheat, vegetables, and legumes—many of them farmed on leased land. They’ve added seed production to the mix, and a seed distribution company to supplement the thriving mill and grain distribution business.”

The mill sells locally adapted seed and feed crops that meet the particular needs of organic farmers in the region. It buys grains from neighboring farmers, too, providing a reliable and equitable market for local operations. And it pays farmers a fair price and does so in a timely fashion—two things often missing in commodity grain sales.

“From the very start, we envisioned Lakeview Organic Grain as a community resource, providing the tools that our upstate New York organic farmers need to be successful,” Mary-Howell says. “We intentionally build the sense that this is a community, that we are all in this together.”

As the Martens learn new techniques and insights, they also actively share them with other farmers—in online forums, in published articles, at conferences, at farm open houses and on their Facebook page. “If we can help other farmers feel more secure, hopeful, and successful,” Mary-Howell says, “then our time is well spent.”

Einkorn wheat, an ancient grain.

Their Future of Organic Farming

The Martens’ farm is now well into its second generation, with their 30-year-old son Peter farming independently and in conjunction with his parents since his teenage years. He has taken over the operation of some of farm’s rented land. The two farms, integrally linked, share the same shop, barn, equipment, and philosophy as father and son work the land together.

“Peter is of an interesting demographic of ‘next-generation organics’—these young people who grew up on organic farms, never learning to farm conventionally,” Mary-Howell says. “Organic farming is just normal to him.”

Soon, farming organically may be the only way, she continues.

“As the climate changes and we experience increasingly unpredictable weather and market conditions, a diversified, flexible cropping system gives us more chance that at least some of our crops will be adapted and successful each year,” Mary-Howell says.

The argument that organic farming can’t feed the world will be debunked in the near future, says Mary-Howell, as new technology allows larger-scale organic production.

Although he is a steadfast proponent of soil-based farming, earlier this month Klaas expressed an openness to gene-edited crop varietals, as long as potentially breakthrough technologies like CRISPR are used to “mimic naturally occurring varieties,” rather than serving to further corporate consolidation of seeds and expanding the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

The Martens currently use technology such as mechanical in-row cultivators, GPS systems, and solar energy generation.

“We are trying to use GPS for planting and cultivation, and we would use much more, but that is made unnecessarily difficult because of the poor internet service and poor tech support” in their rural region, Mary-Howell states.

“With diverse and well-planned crop rotations and the right equipment, we can now be completely true to organic standards and intent and grow high-quality, high-yielding crops with effective weed control on thousands of acres,” she says. “Organic farming is now on the cutting edge, and there is nothing old-fashioned about where this is going.”

Top photo: The Martens family; from left: Klaas, their daughter Elizabeth, Mary-Howell, their son Daniel, their son Peter, Peter’s wife Hanna.

All photos courtesy of Mary-Howell Martens.

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